Discovery's astronauts glided
to the 11th night landing in shuttle program history early Sunday, landing
at 1:03 a.m. Central time to wrap up a 4 million mile mission to resupply
the International Space Station.

Discovery swooped out of darkness
as Commander Kent Rominger set the shuttle and his crewmates down on
Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida to successfully
complete the first shuttle mission of the year.

Rominger and Pilot Rick Husband
fired Discovery's orbital maneuvering system engines just before midnight
Saturday over Thailand to enable the spaceship to drop out of orbit
for its high speed return to Earth.

Traveling in an almost due
northerly ground track, Discovery crossed over Costa Rica, the southern
Caribbean, northwest Cuba, and the Florida Everglades before honing
in on the Kennedy Space Center for the 18th consecutive landing at the
Florida spaceport.

Rominger and Husband were joined
on the flight deck for entry and landing by Flight Engineer Ellen Ochoa
and Mission Specialist Julie Payette, while Mission Specialists Tammy
Jernigan, Dan Barry and Valery Tokarev were seated down in the middeck.

After landing, Discovery's
astronauts were scheduled to undergo routine medical exams and be reunited
with their families before spending the rest of the day relaxing in
Florida.

The crew is expected to return
to Houston early Monday afternoon, with their crew arrival at Ellington
Field planned for about 1:30 p.m. The STS-96 crew's return to Ellington
is open to the public.